I Can't Draw (But I Try To Anyway)

The second day of school seems to be the polar opposite, at least in tone, of the first day. I started off the day with Computer Art class (PhotoShop and Illustrator). Since he was just getting everything organized and handing out the syllabus we could leave early. But I stuck around to try and get a handle on using the computer and Wacom tablet (which is insanely cool by the way). Here’s a doodle:

After the art class, I then headed to Visual Journalism. Its basically doing the same type of stuff I did last semester, except that I need to take more pictures and video. Plus, I got a new Press Card on the way! I’m looking forward to it.

After school, I headed to Justin’s place to catch up with him and shoot the breeze about the upcoming super hero movies of 2011. After The Green Hornet (which already came out), there’s Thor, Captain America, Green Lantern, and X-Men: The First Class. It’s a busy year to be a fan boy.

I then grabbed some dinner with Sarah at Del Taco. After which I went to Barnes & Noble to grab some moleskine notepads. I got back home and called it a night.

Topics of Conversation: Blizzard, 17 cents, what rhymes with macaroni, what to blog about, white knight, mouth full of fries, Bella is still so stupid, keeping it vegan, correspondent nerd, choking, etc.

-Nate

Chibi Nate Goes To School

Today was the first day of something I wanted to avoid. To hide from. To try and dodge at all costs. It was the beginning of what would be more work, headaches, and blood and tears for me. There isn’t enough anti-psychotic medication or booze to make it go away.

My 2011 spring semester started today.

One long sigh of disenchantment later, and I’m up at 7:30 am and then out the door for school. My first class was English Literature, which wasn’t too bad. I foresee a lot of reading. Which is fine, except that I’m not sure when I can afford the books. Crap.

Next up was Intermediate Algebra. It’s the only class I’m petitioning for, and this time, just to add a little more adventure, I’m not even on the Wait List. I don’t have much choice though, so I’m going to have to hold out till I get in the class. Here’s to hoping I can bust on through.

After school, I headed to Comics Unlimited for my much-needed comic run. I just wanted to chat with Lainey and Mark, and pick up Buffy the Vampire Slayer (#40) while I was at it. We caught up, heard some great news, heard some bad news, and I got to do something that literally made me more happy than it should have.

I got to write up my recommended reads for the week on the dry-erase board.

This is sad on a lot of levels, but what the hey, I needed a little boost after the past few days. It was fun to just write down some titles and feel like a cool guy for a little bit. Plus, Lainey drew a Chibi Version of me on the board, so I had a nice high to go to work with.

Norwalk was a little slow, but the cable cast went off without much problems except for a DVD player that was starting to act up. I also had to shoot a little basketball class for kids at a nearby park. Unfortunately, it was very dark, so I don’t know how the footage came out. I then headed home and realized that I had more school to do tomorrow. I didn’t get to sleep till 1:00 am. Too bad I can’t fall asleep on command.

Topics of Conversation: “Slow Justice Is No Justice,” talks that need to happen, out waiting the wait list, order of operations, cat-bear, changing minds, mashed potatoes, squat boxing, politeys, Joshua Tree, dark, my silly banter, etc.

-Nate

Solid 60 Minute Block of "Woe Is Me"

I woke up and had some breakfast before heading out to run errands. This consisted of paying a bill and dropping off a paycheck. These pretty much cancel each other out. Annoying.

I then headed to Norwalk, which had a City Council Meeting tonight. It was a fairly standard meeting, except that finances and budgets kept popping up so here's to hoping things don't get scary, job security wise.

Speaking of jobs, I had a very slight chance for a very good job that I learned today just didn't pan out. It sucks. It actually sucks quite a lot. I need a better job, but I don't really have any prospects. I guess that's the same for everybody in America right now, so Boo f**king Hoo for Nate, right? Its hard to get angry and depressed at my life when so many people have it harder than me. But I'm living here, so it gets just as hard to think past my trials and tribulations.

So for an hour, I just wallowed. All by my lonesome. I gave myself one good solid 60 minute block of "woe is me." Sat in my little work nook and stared at a wall and did just about every generic, cliche broody guy action in the book. Mostly the emo staring into space thinking about how unfair the universe is to me. It was disgusting, comforting, and cathartic.

I'm not over it quite yet. This melancholy will be with me for a week or so more. I'm talking about getting over the possibility of a better situation in life. Not Lotto bulls**t, but hard working potential that I could truly earn. Whatever. Nobody really needs to hear anymore about this. Especially when I personally know people going through tougher stuff.

I headed home and sat down and realized that school was starting tomorrow. Crap. I am just not in the mood for school. What a wonderful start.

I'm shutting my whiny ass up.

Topics of Conversation: Stroganov, The Dude From Anaheim, don't ask guy friends, finances, talking to my brain, my monthly sad day, bubble water, Matt Damon, how to throw an antenna ball properly, etc.

-Nate

Zankou Mega Evil!

I hung out with Katie today, which was a blast and half (maybe even a blast and three fourths of a blast). We went to Zankou Chicken for lunch, which she had never been to before. We caught up and talked about her recent trip to Texas and how life was for us. One shared order of half chicken and hummus later, we went to the 2 dollar theater on Brookhurst & Ball and watched a movie I had missed out on: Megamind!


(Yes, I chose the poster that WASN'T in English. Cuz I'm weird like that).

The movie was actually pretty fun. It asks the question what someone like Lex Luthor would do if ever actually defeated Superman. (Well, a Lex Luthor that is less psychotic and egotistical, anyway). The action looks really great, and the story is actually very well written. I'd recommend it.

Except for a particular point...

!!!!!!!!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!


In the movie, the world believes that Megamind killed Metroman. Even Megamind believes this. But its revealed that Metroman faked his own death so he could stop being a superhero. Eventually, Megamind saves the city Tighten (who Megamind actually created) and the city hails him as a hero. But since everyone believes that Metroman is dead, that means the city is celebrating a murderer. It says a lot about how fickle and forgetful these people are.


!!!!!!!!!!!END OF SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After the movie, Katie headed off for home, and I headed out to finish up some errands. I later met up with Carissa to play some Resident Evil 5 and have dinner. While talking, we realized that April was coming up fast, which meant that the Anaheim Comic Con was nigh. We would have to make plans soon to figure out how many of last year's crew we could assemble. Volunteers unite!

Topics of Conversation: Strep Throat's Revenge, life on a ranch, little adventures, the sadness of hunting doves, non-mysteries, titanium, gattling guns, better run, kickback, the magic that is the Slurpee, etc.

-Nate

Editor's Note

(Editor’s Note: These events are directly related to the January 12th blog “What The F**k Now?”)

(Editor’s Note: There is no Editor).

As I swore to myself on January 12th, Mike, Karmin, and I got our asses in gear and headed to Norwalk to shoot/practice/fail/succeed as we saw fit. We had three ideas, and they were as follows:

1- A poem shot as artsy-fartsy as was necessary.
2- A silly skit starring Mike.
3- A “How To” video of my own devising.

(Editor’s Note: There was actually a fourth idea that wasn‘t written down in time to be remembered).

As the day progressed… we only did one and half of our planned “shot list.” We shot the entire poem, using myriad lights and filters. This took the lion’s share of the work today, and barely left us time to shoot the first half of Mike’s skit. But, all in all, today was a success in my book. And we can get to my “How To” vid at some point, I’m in no rush. I just wanted to shoot something today, and we did.

And not only did we shoot an entire project, we also learned some stuff along the way. Namely, whatever it takes to make something work, whether it be a certain shot or a use of light, then do it.

Afterwards, before she went home, Karmin dropped Mike off near his car. Mike came back to the studio to do some editing, while I remained at Norwalk for a bit longer to catch up on my blogs. I was getting close to being three days behind, and I’ve already been 4 months behind once before.

(Editor’s Note: It might have actually been FIVE months behind).

I then went over to Amy’s place to watch the last three or so episodes of the first season of Angel with Amy and Aaron. It was a pretty good bunch of last episodes for the season, and now we can’t wait to start watching Buffy Season Five and Angel Season Two.

Oh yeah, tomorrow is a Holiday! I completely forgot.

(Editor’s Note: Nathan could not come up with a decent title for this blog entry).

Topics of Conversation: Color bar skat, soggy-salty-greasy, turn off the light, a 25% chance, projects done, headachey, orange juice elixir, no longer sick, tea to coffee, tap dancing, sounds like Ayn Rand, Gatoroid?, etc.

(Editor’s Note: The “Topics of Conversation” are probably Nate’s favorite section of his blogs).

-Nate

(Editor’s Note: We are aware that really is no reason for the “-Nate” at the end of every blog. It’s a waste of time. Sorry).

Our Own Mechanizing

Today was the day I became 20% manlier. Yes, for you see, I (with A LOT of help from my Uncle Jon) did actual work on my car. We did not take my car to a mechanic! NO! We did our own mechanizing! It was pretty awesome.

I drove to my uncle’s place in Tustin and the first thing we did was replace the drive belt. The old one was still good, but since it had come off once before, we decided to play it safe and install a new one. I’m keeping the old one as a spare in case I ever need it.

The next thing, which took the most amount of time, and was the original reason for working on my car, was replacing the brake pads on my car. The squeaking noise of impending brake death had been nagging me for over a month, so as my Christmas present, my Uncle had offered to buy new brake pads and help me install them. I jumped at the chance.

The process itself isn’t very difficult, its just time consuming to do it properly. First you remove the wheel, then you remove the brake pistons, and then you take out the old brake pads. You put in the new pads, and then reverse the entire process. But you have to be careful because this is the mechanism that stops your car. You don’t want to f**k that up.

After the new brake pads, we noticed a small oil leak, and my Uncle tightened down the bolts for the oil and transmission pan. Hopefully that will fix it, but we won’t know for a little bit.

After my car was returned to fighting condition, I met up with Jamal and Justin to watch The Green Hornet.



I was surprised by how much I liked this movie. Though Seth Rogen doesn’t play Green Hornet so much as he plays Seth Rogen as Green Hornet, he still does a pretty good job with the part. Jay Chou as Kato is amazing, and their friendship comes off really genuine and fun. The visuals are awesome throughout the movie, though it really feels like Michel Gondry is holding back a lot, and too much at times. There are a few scenes where he cuts loose, and they are astounding. “Kato Vision” is insanely fun, and the fight scenes look great. And their car, the Black Beauty? It puts every version of the Batmobile to the test.

Anyways, this movie was the first Buddy Hero flick, and I would recommend watching it just for that. Jamal and Justin also liked the movie, so I am not alone in liking this flick.

But I feel that the three of us might be alone as a trio in liking this movie. We’ll have to wait and see.

Topics of Conversation: Tonsils, resumes, brake pads, Green Hornet, rape is a big problem there, your fatness - no wait it’s a compliment!, movie of my life, fake German, Tiki Dad, etc.

-Nate

A Nerd Like Yours Truly

I went over to Kristin’s place to play Last Night on Earth, a zombie board game. And no, contrary to what would be the normal belief, I was not the one that purchased said game. It was actually to of the other players that were joining us, her brother Matthew and her cousin Jacob. Our intrepid little gaming party was rounded out by another cousin named Tamar (Jacob‘s sister). After getting to know Jacob and Tamar more, I have come to the conclusion that their family breeds and trains amazing people in a secret mountain compound. Possibly to save the world at some future date.

And so with this team, we set out to survive the zombie invasion.

The game is a mix of Settlers of Catan, Lunch Money, and even Dungeons & Dragons (that is, if you’re a nerd like Yours Truly). Except for the player controlling the zombies, each player gets two random characters to control and each has certain skills and bonuses. As you go throughout the game, you can choose to move, search a room (which gives you Event or Item cards), or fight zombies. Most of the time, you just want to search for cards, cuz nothing else keeps you alive as well.

For my characters, I got “troubled” High School girl “Sally” and “Father Joseph,” the town priest. Sally… well, Sally wasn’t doing much. But Father Joseph really liked to almost get himself killed often. It was annoying. But the game was fun AND we beat the zombies, controlled by Jacob. He needed to be stopped. For the good of the world.

After the game, we sat around and chatted for a bit before Matthew had to go to work and I had to leave to meet up with Aaron and Amy. Jacob, Kristin, and Tamar ran off to do errands of a mysterious nature (possibly more world saving training at the hidden mountain compound).

I got to Amy’s place and we preceded to completely wipe out Season 4 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The highlights of the night were the episode “Superstar” and the Cheese Man from the last episode “Restless.” Then Aaron, Amy, and I talked about Harry Dresden for a bit, which is always awesome cuz I don’t have nearly enough people to talk about Dresden with.

(I’m looking at you Sarah. Freaking finish the books already).

The next thing we need to accomplish is to finish Angel Season 1. Hopefully soon!

Topics of Conversation: Thor pajamas, puddy knuckles, Dostoevsky, Adam’s redemption, Death Taco, the ultimate fan fantasy, a spaceship made of guns, think baby, unfair to zombies, what’s with the cheese?, male ego, weapons and weapons, etc.

And a new addition to the blog for 2011! Random Nate Notes about people!:

Kristin: Once worked at a restaurant called “The Spicy Lady.” At least, she TOLD me it was a restaurant…
Matthew: Could play Poker and kick my ass. Note to self, NEVER play Poker with Matthew.
Jacob: Actually owns one of those extendo-baton weapons. And, unlike me, he probably knows what its actually called.
Tamar: So smart that I had to try to impress her with my smarts. But alas, she’s too smart to be impressed with comic book trivia.
Amy: She’s drawing a comic book I wrote! And because she’s drawing it, the comic book literally got 97% better.
Aaron: He used to be nicknamed “Gluttonon.” Those days are gone… or ARE THEY???

-Nate

Doesn't the Zodiac Have Enough Innuendo?

I started off the morning by rapidly running some much needed errands of the bill paying variety. Ugh. The less said, the better. Afterwards, I headed over to my friend Mike’s place.



We watched an episode of The IT Crowd, which I have to say is funny in such a way that pleases me. It’s a British show about three friends who are each weird in their own way, and the odd world they inhabit. Since I’ve only seen one episode, I can’t tell you much more, except that its pretty clever, and has the hallowed Nate Seal of Approval.

We then played Halo: Reach for a few hours. The game is gamer junkie addictive. I’m lucky I was able to tear myself away before being completely sucked into the vortex of pixels. I pulled myself away in time to meet up with Justin before we watched The Dilemma with our friends Ben and Jon.



Ben had been able to score a free screening a week ago, so though I wouldn’t have normally got around to watching it in the theaters, I had a fairly good reason to catch it now. The movie itself is actually good, with some great laughs, and some actual excellent dramatic moments. My personal favorite scene was of Ronnie (Vince Vaughn) by himself on a bus stop (completely by himself). But he delivers one heck of a performance. And Ron Howard (the Director) throws in some inspired visual flair, and handles the funny and the serious really well.

That being said, the movie suddenly goes by the numbers on certain parts. The dilemma of the characters loses a little bit of its punch, and some out and out stupidity throws me for a loop once or twice. But otherwise, this flick is worth its money. Or at least its matinee price.

After the movie, Ben, Jon, Justin, and myself hung around to talk a little more. In this span of time, my friend Katie made a surprise appearance. She had returned from a family trip to Texas, and she, along with a friend, were going to watch The Green Hornet at midnight. We caught up a little, and promised to meet up at some point.

After this, Ben and Jon headed off for their respective homes, and I dropped off Justin at his place. I came home, fired up the internet… to find that a 13th Zodiac symbol had been added? Say friggity WHAT? Here’s an example of something NOT earning the hallowed Nate Seal of Approval.

And why did they decide this after all this time? What is it with this stuff? First they strip Pluto’s title as a planet away from it (8 planets in our Solar System? NEVER. Its always going to be NINE planets to me, fools!) Then they call Obama a Nazi Socialist. NOW there’s some kind of Opiphian or Opedophelia or whatever sign?

And because of that I get bumped to being an ARIES.

Nothing against Aries’. I love you all, you’re good people. But I enjoyed being a Taurus. It was cool, and I was cool with it. I will remain a Taurus. So suck it, random Astrologists! Oh yeah! And the new symbol is supposed to be a man holding a snake. How much innuendo do we need in the Zodiac? I thought there was enough as is.

On better news, Ricky Gervais killed on his appearance on Conan tonight. The dude is funny, and I’m looking forward to his upcoming project. Apparently he sat down with three comedians and just had a four hour conversation with them. But what’s really interesting is who he talked with: Louis C.K.! Chris Rock! And Jerry Seinfeld!

I’m so down for whatever this becomes. Till next entry!

Topics of Conversation: Its like staring into the sun, fire at a water park, the rubber floor, Star Wars specials in general, words to live by, pretzel, if I was rich, possible thievery, its Lubbock, funny fan fiction, Dale Jr. High, shady goings at cities, snow by the train full, etc.

-Nate

What The F**k Now?

Woke up and, before I even knew it, I booked nearly my entire weekend. How the hell? It feels like I got to figure out my schedule for the entire month! Maybe I need to cut back on this jet-setting, go-go-go life of mine.

I went to Comics Unlimited for my comic run, at which I bought the latest issue of Secret Six. Mark and Lainey were working today, and we chatted a bit before I had to head to work. At Norwalk, I did the usual, though we had a Planning Commission Meeting. It didn’t go for very long, so were done within an hour.

What took more than an hour was deciding that I wasn’t doing enough.

I sat down and started talking to Mike and Karmin. We talked about a lot of stuff, but the topic that seemed to keep coming back up could be summed up in a very simple theme: “What the f**k now?”

What do I mean? Well, last year (2010), the theme was kind of around the lines of “It’s about f**king time!” The time being that we make some realizations and try to act upon them. The actions being that we try to fix whatever the situation is, or to at least set into motion some form of fixing. Mostly, the theme was about finally being aware.

This time around, I can’t help but feel that “What the f**k now?” is about truly doing something about this new found, and hard-earned, knowledge. I realized last year that I needed to work towards changing my situation in life. So this year I’m going to really endeavor to finish school. I realize last year that I have a lack of actual hard proof of anything written or completed. This year I will write at least three things.

I’m aware that this is basically a New Year’s Resolution, though I like to think of it as a New Year’s Revolution. (Yes, you actually read that right. Yes, I actually wrote that. Yes, I’m aware of how stupid I sound).

Another thing that I want to change is the lack of content I have. Content, that is, of the video variety. Mike also realized that he needed more practice lighting. And Karmin realized that she wanted to make more ideas come to life. So together, we made a vow to work this coming Sunday on shooting whatever comes to mind to shoot. No matter the idea, no matter the silliness, we wanted to complete something of note. Of note to ourselves, if nothing else.

Well this entry turned into a very “FOR FRODO” rally cry for creativity and accomplishment. Here’s to hoping I don’t let myself down.

Topics of Conversation: Sneaky minx, Elvis country, Nerf Herder, a Hypothesis concerning Johnny Cash, Geek LVL UP, catty towards the dead, armchair psychiatrist, 40 minute wait, shame of a nation, a thorough e-mail, tamale, weird horror, stolen pistachios, “SHOW-VA-NIZIM,” people I’d rather not know exist, etc.

-Nate

Grandparent Terminology

So today is 1-11-11. My friend Lainey pointed out it won’t be as cool as November 11 (11-11-11), but I think its still pretty big. As to its particular significance other than being a bunch of ones, well I honestly haven’t thought that far, so hey a BUNCH OF ONES!

I woke up at a better hour, but only in comparison to the horrendous amount of time I’ve been sleeping in for the past few weeks. But I’m working on it, people, I’m working on it. Don’t give up on me yet.

I got some Christmas money from my grandma, whom I call “Nana.” Is this the case with most people? No, not the Christmas money, which is awesome, but having different titles for our grandparents? On my dad’s side, I called my grandparents “Oma” and “Opa.” On my mom’s side, I called my grandparents “Granddad” and “Nana.” I never called them “Grandma” or “Grandpa,” so for a while, when was really little, I honestly didn’t know what other kids were talking about when they mentioned “Grandma” and “Grandpa.”

“Are you talking about your Oma and Opa?” I asked my friend Adrian, one time on the playground. After he had mentioned, yet again, these shadowy “Grandpa” people giving him a bike for Christmas.
“What?” replied Adrian.
“Or Nana?” I continued.
“Who?” he said back.
“Your GRANDDAD?” I said, frustrated.
“Oh, my Grandma and Grandpa? Yeah. What do you call them?” he asked, perplexed.

That’s when I knew that I had been given different code names by which to refer to my grandparents. All the building blocks for individuality and miscommunication rolled up into one. Good times were had in Elementary.

So anyways, my Nana gave me some money for Christmas, which was great because I was super broke (much worse than regular broke). After going to the bank, I headed to Lainey’s to hang out and talk. I paid the toll in Del Taco fries and we caught up on her getting a Roller Derby concussion. She once asked me if I’d like to join the Roller Derby as like a referee or even join the men’s league, but since I don’t have medical insurance (Go Team America!), I would probably die from rink rash or something Roller Derby related. We mostly chatted till I had to head to work.

Before I went to work, I stopped off at Fresh and Easy to grab some supplies for work. This mostly consisted of water, chips, sorbet, and a few instant noodle bowls. Norwalk was fairly chill, and I mostly organized some of the archive of videos and tried to write.

After work, I hung out with Carissa and played Resident Evil 5, which I had only glanced at nearly a year before. The game is pretty good, and quite addictive. But the aiming system sucks, almost as bad as Grand Theft Auto back in the day. But the choice of guns is pretty awesome, and the team work needed just to stay alive helps keep you hopping. I look forward to playing it again!

Topics of Conversation: Black is slimming, side car cat, abstain, squishy steps, 201111111, precious moments eyes, swimming, Steroid Chris, might as well get a monkey, concussions for fun, a sad moment of no sleep, GOWLD!, etc.

-Nate

My Boring Ass Blog

I had a late start today, but still made it to work on time. Norwalk was quiet, which I mostly spent organizing the schedule of cable casts. And that's all I have to say about the subject of work.

After work, I dropped off My Boring Ass Life (by Kevin Smith) at Justin's place. I borrowed it from him nearly six months ago, and barely finished it today. But the read is an amazing blend interesting, boring, and funny moments in his life. It actually helped to inspire me to catch up with my own blog, which might take as long as it takes to write the regularly scheduled blog. Oi!

We watched two episodes of Louie, a half-hour show written and directed by the comedian Louie C.K. And I have to say... the show is really good. Sometimes it has a full episode story line, and other times its a few vignettes sewn together. But its really good because it goes from funny, to truthful, and then serious, and right back to funny. I'm really impressed.

Topics of Conversation: Dentists, dubbing, silly weapons, salsa dancing looks hard, real life funny, 230 gigs for a steal, mashed potato casserole, etc.

-Nate

Procrastination By Osmosis

I keep burning CD’s for people, and I keep leaving them at home! Its frustrating. I hate that head rush after seeing a person and the memory of exactly what I meant to bring them hits me. I’d prefer feeling like cool dude with CD ready to go and looking slick. But what I DO get to be is the flustered guy who’s all “Wait, I have cool stuff for you but not with me so I should just forget about it till I see you next which is exactly what I will do and then I will do this entire soliloquy all over again cuz I forgot to bring it again!”

Yeah, so right, what I did today…

Nuthin’.
Nada.
Not a thing.
Nothing at all.
Zilch.
No productivity at all.

I just didn’t want to accomplish anything today. Which is only a little, barely, okay because it was intentional, as opposed to my usual sexy go-getter daredevil self that just suddenly looks around and realizes I procrastinated by osmosis. I’m just a little fern of a man, in a basement of distracted reverie, yearning for the sun.

Wow, I’m using way more than my usual quota of imagery. Must be because I’m writing this at 2:16 am on the 10th of January (not the 9th as the date posted will lead you to believe) wondering what I should really settle down and achieve. Hey, maybe I just achieved it by sitting down and writing something.

I love to sleep, but I seem to rarely do it voluntarily.

Topics of Conversation: Carnies, a book nearly done being read, fake hot dog, Victorville, horses, penguin pajamas, non-harlots, band reunions *and friends, etc.

-Nate

Hipster Ground Zero

Started off this little adventure of a Saturday by heading over to Jamal’s place to watch Mystery Team. I got the DVD for Christmas from Justin, and have been wanting to watch the movie again for a while.

After the movie, Jon, Ben, and Kevin joined us. We all drove down to Anaheim to grab some food and go to something called “Community Art Show” off of Brookhurst Street. Before that, we grabbed some food at a place called Cortina’s. Amazing food as usual, and loud conversations from all of us to boot. I ordered my favorite: the pesto pasta. This food, and the company, made sure that I was very happy for the rest of the evening.

At the Art Show, which was Hipster Ground Zero that night, we met up with Katy, and two friends from Jamal and the guys days in their ska band Caffeinated Super-Heroes, Dez and Robert. They were in a band called Stalking Roxy, which played with the Super-Heroes a lot back in the day. These two are really cool, and it was great to catch up with them, what with the little talk I had with them in the past.

The Art Show itself wasn’t too bad. Some pieces worked for me more than others, but hey its art, so that’s to be expected. I suppose my favorite piece was a black framed drawing of a punk girl, followed closely by an archway made of wood pallets. Though I had a kick pretending to explain the meaning of a piece to Katy and Kevin.

It consisted of a mannequin torso, with a cow skull for a head, and metal frame in front of it that seemed to look suspiciously a lot like it was targeting below the waist of the torso, which had a display of little flowers and a burnt-out candle. If you can follow my faux logic/critique, then you would be amused by the pretend distracted voice I used to explain it. (BLOGGING: Theater of the Mind!)

After the Art Show, Dez and Robert headed back home, while Jamal, Jon, Katy, Kevin, Ben, and myself headed to a bar… which was an event in of itself.

STRIKE ONE!: Some place nearby called “Bottom’s Up.” The place was so packed, we ended up just leaving. But before that, we ran into someone that had changed a heck of a lot, and not in a good way. (*picture me shaking my head slowly and sadly*)

STRIKE TWO!: Then we went to Linbrook Bowling, but though the karaoke that was going on was intriguing, the place was packed even MORE to the gills. We left slightly dejected.

Nope, we didn’t strike out three times. We went to this little shot glass of a hole in the wall called “Cups.” It was a small place, but much more reasonably patronized. We settled in quickly.

Justin joined us at Cups, and we went on to have a few drinks and a lot of laughs. Katy and I played a game of Foosball with Jamal and Jon, who won fair and square… no, on second thought, I’m sure they cheated. It makes more sense to me, and I’m not being defensive SHUT UP.

Eventually we called it a night and headed home. I dropped off Justin, after chatting for a bit, and then went home and slept the sleep of a guy that should have already been asleep an hour earlier.

Topics of Conversation: Arf arf, what is a One?, Paramount, one week limit, sparkling apple cider, Foosball, a long wait for two songs, the Ben Quotient, man up, lovin’ the 80’s, long shots for the future, thin skin, OC pics, how to be remembered, bars, I am a beacon, etc.

-Nate

Upon the Bounty of Gift Cards

I woke up much later than I had intended….

Is that becoming my thing? I just wake up later and later? Not much reason for it. I have school coming back into full swing in barely over a week. Get back into the game, Nate!

MOVING ON

I watched the movie 12 Monkeys again for the second time. It had been a long time since I’d seen it (1999?) and I had only seen a little over half of the movie then. So this was the first time I had seen it all the way through. The movie is pretty good. I’ve always been a fan of Terry Gilliam, and he has a heck of a visual style. And the story is nice and mind-f**ky, just as time travel movies should be.

I got a text from Lainey saying she had a Xmas gift for me, so after the movie, and after quenching my gas tank’s thirst upon the bounty of gift cards, I headed to the shop. There I was greeted with a busy Mark, a happy Mon, and, amusingly, a punch-drunk Lainey. Punch-drunk on sleepiness, that is. I highly recommend conversations with a sleep-deprived Lainey. Its very eye-opening.

As for the gift, it was a framed picture of Hemlock, the kitten I helped Lainey get roughly a year ago. Sweet googly moogly, how time just keeps blasting ahead…

Carissa came by the shop, and I headed out to grab some dinner with her (Lainey was busy for the night, so we couldn‘t talk her into coming along). Thanks again to gift cards, the choice for the restaurant was Chili’s. I had a cheeseburger, and she had some cajun pasta. We caught up, chatting about her new job, the New Year’s, Texas, and fixing iPods. It was a nice night.

I headed home, and caught up on two days of blogs. I watched some scattered bits of TV programming, but honestly can’t tell you what was on. It been nice to write this blog again. I really did miss it. Its just so tricky to find time to focus my brain and put the days into words. And as of this entry, I am now a week into 2011. Let’s see what’s in store for this year…

Topics of Conversation: Then we can bake forever, thermals, one craft fair, killing Ewoks, Lainey is SUPER drunk, “That’s all I got, bro, I got a heart condition!” smoke is a bad sign, threats and firings, no Jesus hands, flapping cadet, Knott’s Berry Farm: Tokyo Drift, the bitter cold of the low 60’s, the uniform, decrepit buildings, penny head’s up, etc.

-Nate

Wall St. Manor

The other day I picked up some work for the City of Lakewood. That day of work being today. So really, I should be talking about today’s work mainly. I’m starting to confuse myself.

ANYWAYS

The shoot was for “Community Digest,” which was a live broadcast for Lakewood News and Events. I was ran audio, which meant manning the sound board, mostly. The shoot itself isn’t too difficult, just tricky because it’s live. So no delay, and no editing. Fortunately, we did a run-through before the live shoot. Once I figured out what I needed to keep an eye on, I was ready to kick the tires and light some fires.

After the shoot, I headed to Signal Hill to hang out with Victor. This was the first time I’d ever been to his place since he moved out from his old place. He was now at a new house, which he shared with six other housemates. Believe me, it works out fairly well, cuz the place is really big. Plus, his roomies seem to be pretty cool.

After we grabbed some food from a place called “Wok ‘n Roll” (I dig the name, and the food sounded good), we went back to the house, which I deem Wall St. Manor. This is mostly due to the fact that the house is the setting for a web series called…. Yep, you guessed it: Wall St. Manor. Its made by some of the roommates, one (or two) of which is a Film major at CSULB. No, I do not know if that is how real life is like at Victor’s place.

Vic and I ended up watching a ton of The Sarah Jane Adventures, specifically the episodes that guest-starred the Doctor (from Doctor Who). (Why hello, yes, I’m Nathan and I’m a giant geek. Pleased to meet you). And another high light was watching the Robot Chicken: Star Wars Special III. All of these brought me great happiness. It was a great night, all said and done.

Topics of Conversation: The new generation of Roller Derby, pale shadows, November, of all questions, audio stuff, oh the 90's, rent of 7, the gig, free spaghetti, scary Tom Baker, French, etc.

-Nate

Hip-Check

Today was mostly a relaxed day. I didn't want to do much running around. (Especially after staying up till 3 this morning).

I headed to Comics Unlimited to pick up The Walking Dead (#80). Its Part One of the "No Way Out" story arch. Not sure what's going to happen, but it looks very, very interesting so far. I chatted with Lainey and Mark for a bit. Lainey then preceeded to "hip-check" me twice. (Its one of those Roller Derby moves. Mostly, Lainey is a bully and revels in the power she feels).

I got to Norwalk and mostly worked on cleaning up my office/corner and once I was done, I headed home to chill out. I talked to Jamal for a bit on the phone, about his work and the unfortunate choice of character in True Grit that reminded him of me. (It was the dude that made animal noises.... I'm going kill Jamal). But it was funny, god help me.

I killed time on facebook (which its way too good at doing), and wrote this entry. Seriously, not much happened today.

Oh yeah! And the response to the "Nathan!" fake teaser has been pretty awesome. Thanks for all the kind words, peeps!

Topics of Conversation: Magic popcorn, Valhalla, hug training, Music Unlimited Vol. II, the tamales in question, easy Resolutions, Greek for "good-bye," ladder risk, burn more CD's, etc.

-Nate

Fake TV Teaser Trailers For Fake TV Shows

After the news of needing to work on the commerical we shot, Justin and I talked about what that would entail, and how best to accomplish our goal:

TO MAKE OUR CLIENT/FRIEND PAUL A SATISFIED CLIENT/FRIEND!

...upon further thought, that entire statement, if taken out of context, is kind of weird and makes you think wrong things. Rest assured, we only mean for him to be happy about the video we shot for him. Justin and I talked it out, and came to the conclusion that we have to grow up and act like professionals and get to work as soon as we can. Oh well, tis the real world...

I arrived at work at Norwalk, and found my friend/co-worker Bill in a surprisingly inspired mood. Apparently a facebook entry I had posted on a whimsical whim of fancy and whim caught his attention. This is the entry word for word: "If I had a TV show, what would the opening credits look like?"

That's it. Nothing more than an idle thought and day dream. I didn't expect much of a response from it, nor did I think anyone would put thought into it. Before I knew it, I had ten replies, with Bill being one of them. He evisioned a ton of snap zooms, which I was more than amused at. But Bill wasn't done there...

We decided to shoot a version of it: (Enjoy).

Nathan!

He edited this version, which is more of a fake TV teaser trailer for a fake TV show. Also, it friggin' awesome. I'm editing one that's more of the opening credits for a show. Personally, I think Bill's is beyond perfect.

After cutting it together, we had to get back to real work and shoot the first City Council Meeting of the year, which was over very quickly. Which was a pleasant surprise. Also, before all this, we all pooled our money for the $330 million dollar lotto. Might as well give it a shot, even if it a very slight chance.

After work, I met up with my friends Victor, Josh, Mai, Justin, and Chris for a night of tacos, endless Doctor Who talk, art galore, and two adorable pugs named Dozer and CK. I hadn't seen Josh and Mai in nearly two years, so it was a real treat for me. Today was a great day!

Topics of Conversation: Lunar azul, Avatar money, True Grit skit, Texas, CEO Pimp, a lot a' lotto, the opening credits to my non-existant TV show, online journal, Daniel Radcliffe as the Doctor, Winston Churchill the pug, time eddy, don't live in not California, "Which one is the people with the cat heads?", the upcoming Nerf War, a ton of Doctor Who geekery, two years between visits, "Gotta get to the gig!", etc.

-Nate

Diversity of Talk

I drove to Tustin to have lunch with my friend Trick. He was visiting from his job in Japan, and I wanted to make sure to hang out with him at least a little before he had to head back. As usual, our conversations ranged from anything from Japanese girls to creative writing to the state of the economy. Our talks have always had a lot of diversity in them, and always feel natural. Good times.

We ate at Chick-Fil-A, and we talked till I had to leave for Norwalk.

Once at Norwalk, I realized that my 2010 calendar was now done. This would normally not be of any note of interest, either to myself or to you, gentle reader. But it was a free Marvel Comics calendar! Its new-found status as being obsolete paper should at least be noted.

Okay, even I’m bored with that.

When I was done with work, I headed to Amy’s house to watch Buffy and Angel. We ended up watching 6 (SIX!) episodes, and hit the awesome crossover episodes with Faith. Great stuff, if I do say so myself.

Unfortunately, I ended the night with some news that wasn’t so strong. Apparently the client for the commercial I shot with Justin wanted to re-do all his speaking parts. From camera, lighting, and audio. This is roughly 75% of the commercial. Its going to be a lot of work, and I don’t know exactly when I can get access to the camera we used for the shoot. But this is life in the Big City, or so I believe.

Either way, I wasn’t completely happy with what we shot before, so I will just look at this as a chance for improvement.

Topics of Conversation: Lenny Kravitz’s hair, a little Socialism ain’t so bad, way too much wackiness, passionate politics, no implants for me, gypsies, the future, NetFlix made easy, Faith, etc.

-Nate

All-New! All-Adorable! & All-Accidental!

Woke up to vegan waffles made by the parentals. The waffles… were a step in the right direction. Not perfect, as prototypes go, but I suspect my vegan friends would nod sagely in approval… and violently shake their fists at me for not saving some for them. Be calm, my vegan comrades, I shall learn how to make them for you.

Afterwards, I headed over to Justin’s house in Step One of our maniacal scheme to go to LA to watch True Grit. But first we hung out for a bit, in which I was fed imaginary omelettes by Justin’s nephew Kamayo. That kid is ridiculously cute, and has the kind of comedic timing only children have for the first 4 years of their life. Its all-new, all-adorable, and all-accidental.

Once I was sufficiently stuffed on food that didn’t exist, Justin and I headed to LA… in the worst rain storm possible. That shows us for not leaving earlier. We were to pick Will (a LAFS alumni) and meet up with Sean (also a fellow LAFS alumni) at the theater. Our friend Jeptha was supposed to join up with us, but bailed out for monetary reasons, of which I can’t truly fault him, being in the same boat as well. (I was using tickets I was given for Christmas for this outing).

At the mall/theater, we grabbed some linner (lunch/dinner) and then went to Barnes & Noble to hang out till the 8:10 showing. 7:30 eventually showed up to the party, and we headed to the theater.

True Grit… is an awesome movie. I really liked it. It was slow, but that just meant more time with these three really interesting characters: Maddie Rose, Rooster Cogburn, and LeBeuff. Each one was polar opposites of each other, but they just pulled out the most stuff out of each other. Both annoying and impressing not only each other, but themselves. And the wild west has never felt more authentic than with this movie. The Coen Brothers were able to make danger seem almost like a job in of itself for people like Rooster, but also incredible at the same time. Great movie!

After the movie, Justin, Will, Sean, and myself stuck around to just shoot the s**t and catch up. Promises of WRITING SOMETHING were made, and then we were off for home. And magically, all the way back to Will’s place to drop him off, we all improved a strange scene in which it begins with me trying to discuss my debt to a credit card company, and ends up with propositions of male prostitution and insults not meant. Truly a magical, insane, and R-rated skit. Thanks for the memories, guys!

After I got home, I was still awake enough to watch a movie. I checked out what was on my cable’s “On-Demand” and fired up Killshot, a 2008 “thriller” starring Mickey Rourke, Thomas Jane, Diane Lane, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

It was really bad. Especially after watching True Grit. This movie was barely on speaking terms with logic, and was never actually scary or thrilling. Confounding. Yes, confounding. That is Killshot. A confounding movie with confusing characters. Don’t watch it unless its 1:30 in the morning and you have nothing else to do… like I did.

Topics of Conversation: Gooey vegan, a long skit about debt management, blinking, Samurai baby, Judge John Hodgman, not touching chicken, French fry shake, script NANOWRIMO, the magic that is a briefcase full of money, etc.
-Nate

Don't Open Dead Inside

On New Year’s Eve, I didn’t get as smashed as I usually do. “Usually” being the past two to three years. I let myself get pretty drunk for the turn of the year, but that didn’t happen this time around mostly because I didn’t want to get dumb-drunk in front of Jamal’s mom, who was kind enough to let us young no-gudnicks celebrate at her house.

So drunk I was not.

I got home and slept in till noon, which is ridiculous, but never stops feeling great. I have to get myself back into school sleep mode again, cuz the 19th is just two weeks away. G’ah! A curse upon skoolin’!

I went to Barnes & Noble to take part in some of the post-holiday sales they were offering, and since I still had over $40 in my gift card, I was hoping I could get something cool. And something cool I did get. I bought John Hodgman’s book More Information Than You Require… for 6 bucks! It’s a steal, and I will never tell Hodgman. I will just pretend I paid full price, if I ever have a chance to get him to sign it. And if it ever comes up in the 49-seconds conversation we would have. And if he was to suspect me. Which he wouldn’t.

Cuz I’m just too charming to be doubted.

After Barnes & Noble, I headed out and caught up with Carissa. We played Halo 3, and actually beat the sucker. Though Carissa ended up doing most of the hard work, as I was killed early and never had a chance to re-spawn to join in on the big boss fights. Argh. I never said I was great at gaming.

We gave each other our Christmas gifts. She gave me a T-shirt of The Walking Dead that said “Don’t Open Dead Inside.” Which made me laugh inside my head, because I thought to myself “Heh. I’m dead inside. Time for some guy-liner to make it official.” I didn’t share that thought with Carissa right then, because that thought could make a very confusing situation out of what I honestly felt was an awesome gift. I left it to the facts: I really dug the shirt! Its pretty cool, and I hope to wear it often and with much pride.

For Carissa, I bought her a copy of Fables: 1001 Nights of Snowfall. Though she barely had Volume 2 of the Fables TPB’s, the book is mostly prequel stuff that doesn’t give anything away. Also it was drawn real pretty like.

After the Halo-in’, I headed home and realized I really needed to at least start up on my blog again.

I look back on 2010, and realize I only recorded a little over half of it. That is both a personal disappointment, and a personal achievement at the same time. I’ve tried in the past to record my days, and barely made it past a week. But this time, I have nearly seven solid months of the entire year of 2010 written down. That’s not bad. Maybe I can do better for 2011. Or maybe not. We’ll have to wait and see.

So here it is. Read it up, and pass it along!

Topics of Conversation: Miss the parade, resolutions, XL shirts, Sunday in LA, wagging bob, headaches, farms in nowhere, couch crash, sleepy drunk cowboy serenading, red feet, etc.

-Nate